NAUGATUCK — The cost to bus borough students will go up more than $427,000 over the next five school years.
On Monday, the Board of Education unanimously awarded the bid for busing transportation to Student Transportation of America. The bid includes a 3 percent increase in the cost each of the next five school years.
The district currently uses Student Transportation of America and is paying the company nearly $2.7 million this school year. Under the bid, the cost for busing will increase to almost $2.8 million in the 2018-19 school year. In the 2022-23 school year, the district will pay a little more than $3.1 million.
In total, the increases will cost the district $427,763 over the five years of the deal. School officials now have to write up a contract with Student Transportation of America, but the figures will remain the same as the bid.
Business Manager Bernice Rizk said the buses all have GPS monitors so the district can track the buses and digital video recorders on them.
Student Transportation of America was one of two companies to bid to provide busing.
First Student offered a bid that would have increased the district’s cost roughly $707,000 over the next five school years.
Student Transportation of America also offered a second bid that would have used a bus fleet with an average age of eight years and cost the district about $21,000 less over the five years of the deal. The bid the board approved, which was recommended by the administration, uses a bus fleet with an average age of seven years.
